Plan Commission supports latest Charlestowne Mall site plans

Published: Friday, March 21, 2014 11:26 p.m. CDT

ST. CHARLES – The Charlestowne Mall redevelopment project this week continued to move through the city’s approval process.

The Plan Commission on Tuesday recommended for approval the project’s overall site plan, preliminary engineering plan and the final plat of subdivision, said Russell Colby, the city’s planning division manager.

The current site plan includes a few changes from the initial plan, including the omission of buildings proposed for the mall’s outlot areas. The project’s developers plan to submit updated proposals for outlot buildings at an unspecified date.

The latest plan also includes the removal of the entry drive from the mall’s southwest entrance. The commission was concerned about losing the entry drive because it would have included a pedestrian walkway to the mall. The developers instead will have a walkway run along the ring road from the west over to the mall’s Von Maur anchor building on the south side of the mall, Colby said.

The Krausz Companies Inc. in California purchased the mall property for more than $9.5 million in November. The company plans to rename the mall The Quad St. Charles and recreate its appearance by late 2015 to a neighborhood feeling and include patio dining outside.

Since the developers continue to talk with possible tenants and refine their plans for the mall, construction likely won’t begin until this July instead of April or May, said Jay Krigsman, executive vice president of The Krausz Companies.

“We still believe we are on schedule for a holiday 2015 grand opening,” Krigsman said. “Part of the work we are doing [requires] a lot of site grading.”

The two plans and final plat reviewed by the Plan Commission will next go before the city’s Planning and Development committee on April 14. The city expects to review the mall’s early landscape, architectural and signage plans in late June or early July, Colby said.